LINCOLN  ROOM 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


MEMORIAL 

the  Class  of  1901 


founded  by 

HARLAN  HOYT  HORNER 

and 

HENRIETTA  CALHOUN  HORNER 


LINCOLN'S 
GETTYSBURG  ORATION 

AND 

FIRST  AND 
SECOND 
INAUGURAL 
ADDRESSES 


NEW  YORK 

DUFFIELD  &  COMPANY 

1907 


LINCOLN'S  FIRST 
INAUGURAL  ADDRESS 

DELIVERED      ON      THE 

4th  of  march,   1861 

Fellow-  Citizens 

of  the  United  States: 

In  compliance  with  a  cus- 
tom as  old  as  the  Government 
itself,  I  appear  before  you  to 
address  you  briefly,  and  to 
take  in  your  presence  the  oath 
prescribed  by  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States  to 
be  taken  by  the  President  "be- 
fore he  enters  on  the  execution 
of  his  office." 

I  do  not  consider  it  neces- 
sary at  present  for  me  to  dis- 
cuss those  matters  of  adminis- 
tration about  which  there  is  no 

1 


special  anxiety  or  excitement. 
Apprehension  seems  to  ex- 
ist among  the  people  of  the 
Southern  States  that  by  the 
accession  of  a  Republican  Ad- 
ministration their  property 
and  their  peace  and  personal 
security  are  to  be  endangered. 
There  has  never  been  any  rea- 
sonable cause  for  such  appre- 
hension. Indeed,  the  most  am- 
ple evidence  to  the  contrary 
has  all  the  while  existed  and 
been  open  to  their  inspection. 
It  is  found  in  nearly  all  the 
published  speeches  of  him  who 
now  addresses  vou.  I  do  but 
quote  from  one  of  those 
speeches  when  I  declare  that 
"I  have  no  purpose,  directly 
or  indirectly,  to  interfere  with 

2 


i 


the  institution  of  slavery  in  the 
States  where  it  exists.  I  be- 
lieve I  have  no  lawful  right  to 
do  so,  and  I  have  no  inclina- 
tion to  do  so."  Those  who 
nominated  and  elected  me  did 
so  with  full  knowledge  that  I 
had  made  this  and  many 
similar  declarations,  and  had 
never  recanted  them.  And, 
more  than  this,  they  placed  in 
the  platform  for  my  accep- 
tance, and  as  a  law  to  them- 
selves and  to  me,  the  clear  and 
emphatic  resolution  which  I 
now  read: 

"Resolved,  that  the  mainte- 
nance inviolate  of  the  rights  of 
the  States,  and  especially  the 
right  of  each  State  to  order 
and  control  its  own  domestic 


/< 


■I 


m 


►  ♦    ♦-! 


/y^ 


institutions  according  to  its 
o\^Ti  judgment  exclusively,  is 
essential  to  that  balance  of 
power  on  which  the  perfection 
and  endurance  of  our  political 
fabric  depend,  and  we  de- 
nounce the  lawless  invasion  by 
armed  force  of  the  soil  of  any 
State  or  Territory,  no  matter 
under  what  pretext,  as  among 
the  gravest  of  crimes." 

I  now  reiterate  these  senti- 
ments ;  and,  in  doing  so,  I  only 
press  upon  the  public  attention 
the  most  conclusive  evidence  of 
which  the  case  is  susceptible, 
that  the  property,  peace,  and 
security  of  no  section  are  to 
be  in  any  wise  endangered  by 
the  now  incoming  Administra- 
tion.    I  add,  too,  that  all  the 

4 


y*  **i 


protection  which,  consistently 
with  the  Constitution  and  the 
laws,  can  be  given,  will  be 
cheerfully  given  to  all  the 
States  when  lawfullj^  demand- 
ed, for  whatever  cause — as 
cheerfully  to  one  section,  as  to 
another. 

There  is  much  controversy 
about  the  delivering  up  of 
fugitives  from  service  or  labor. 
The  clause  I  now  read  is  as 
plainly  written  in  the  Consti- 
tution as  any  other  of  its  pro- 
visions : 

"No  person  held  to  service 
or  labor  in  one  State,  under  the 
laws  thereof,  escaping  into 
another,  shall  in  consequence 
of  any  law  or  regulation  there- 
in, be  discharged  from  such 


^ 


JC 


service  or  labor,  but  shall  be 
delivered  up  on  claim  of  the 
party  to  whom  such  service  or 
labor  may  be  due." 

It  is  scarcely  questioned  that 
this  provision  was  intended  by 
those  who  made  it  for  the  re- 
claiming of  what  we  call  fugi- 
tive slaves;  and  the  intention 
of  the  lawgiver  is  the  law.  All 
members  of  Congress  swear 
their  support  to  the  whole 
Constitution — to  this  provi- 
sion as  much  as  to  any  other. 
To  the  proposition,  then,  that 
slaves,  whose  cases  come  with- 
in the  terms  of  this  clause, 
"shall  be  delivered  up"  their 
oaths  are  unanimous.  Now, 
if  they  would  make  the  effort 
in  good   temper,   could   they 

6 


j^ 


!i 


not,  with  nearly  equal  unanim- 
ity, frame  and  pass  a  law  by 
means  of  which  to  keep  good 
that  unanimous  oath? 

There  is  some  difference  of 
opinion  whether  this  clause 
should  be  enforced  by  national 
or  by  State  authority;  but 
surely  that  difference  is  not  a 
very  material  one.  If  the 
slave  is  to  be  surrendered,  it 
can  be  of  but  little  consequence 
to  him,  or  to  others,  by  which 
authority  it  is  done.  And 
should  any  one,  in  any  case,  be 
content  that  his  oath  shall  go 
unkept,  on  a  merely  unsub- 
stantial controversy  as  to  how 
it  shall  be  kept? 

Again,  in  any  law  upon  this 
subject,  ought  not  all  the  safe- 

7 


">»^ 


i' 


':n( 


guards  of  libertj^  known  in 
civilized  and  humane  jurispru- 
dence to  be  introduced  so  that 
a  free  man  be  not,  in  any  case, 
surrendered  as  a  slave?  And 
might  it  not  be  well  at  the 
same  time  to  provide  by 
law  for  the  enforcement  of 
that  clause  in  the  Con- 
stitution which  guarantees 
that  "the  citizens  of  each 
State  shall  be  entitled  to  all 
privileges  and  immunities  of 
citizens  in  the  several  States"? 
I  take  the  official  oath  to- 
day with  no  mental  reserva- 
tions and  with  no  purpose  to 
construe  the  Constitution  or 
laws  by  any  hypercritical 
rules.  And  while  I  do  not 
choose  now  to  specify  particu- 

8 


v;/, 


lar  acts  of  Congress  as  proper 
to  be  enforced,  I  do  suggest 
that  it  will  be  much  safer  for 
all,  both  in  official  and  private 
stations,  to  conform  to  and 
abide  by  all  those  acts  which 
stand  unrepealed,  than  to  vio- 
late any  of  them  trusting  to 
find  impunity  in  having  them 
held  to  be  unconstitutional. 

It  is  seventy-two  years  since 
the  first  inauguration  of  a 
President  under  our  National 
Constitution.  During  that 
period  fifteen  different  and 
greatly  distinguished  citizens 
have,  in  succession,  admin- 
istered the  Executive  branch 
of  the  Government.  They 
have  conducted  it  through 
many    perils,    and    generally 


i/ 


UA 


with  great  success.  Yet,  with 
all  this  scope  of  precedent,  I 
now  enter  upon  the  same  task 
for  the  brief  constitutional 
term  of  four  years,  under 
great  and  peculiar  difficulty. 
A  disruption  of  the  Federal 
Union,  heretofore  only  men- 
aced, is  now  formidably  at- 
tempted. 

I  hold  that,  in  contempla- 
tion of  universal  law,  and  of 
the  Constitution,  the  union  of 
these  States  is  perpetual.  Per- 
petuity is  implied,  if  not  ex- 
pressed, in  the  fundamental 
law  of  all  national  govern- 
ments. It  is  safe  to  assert  that 
no  government  proper  ever 
had  a  provision  in  its  organic 
law  for  its  own  termination. 

10 


i>) 


Continue  to  execute  all  the 
express  provisions  of  our  Na- 
tional Constitution,  and  the 
Union  will  endure  forever — it 
being  impossible  to  destroy  it 
except  by  some  action  not  pro- 
vided for  in  the  instrument  it- 
self. 

Again,  if  the  United  States 
be  not  a  government  proper, 
but  an  association  of  States  in 
the  nature  of  contract  merely, 
can  it,  as  a  contract,  be  peace- 
ably unmade  by  less  than  all 
the  parties  who  made  it  ?  One 
party  to  a  contract  may  violate 
it — ^break  it,  so  to  speak,  but 
does  it  not  require  all  to  law- 
fully rescind  it? 

Descending  from  these  gen- 
eral  principles,   we   find   the 

u 


proposition  that,  in  legal  con- 
templation, the  Union  is  per- 
petual, confirmed  by  the  his- 
tory of  the  Union  itself.  The 
Union  is  much  older  than  the 
Constitution.  It  was  formed, 
in  fact,  by  the  Articles  of  As- 
sociation in  1774.  It  was  ma- 
tured and  continued  by  the 
Declaration  of  Independence 
in  1776.  It  was  further  ma- 
tured, and  the  faith  of  all  the 
then  thirteen  States  expressly 
plighted  and  engaged  that  it 
should  be  perpetual,  by  the 
Articles  of  Confederation  in 
1778.  And  finally,  in  1787, 
one  of  the  declared  objects  for 
ordaining  and  establishing  the 
Constitution  was,  'Ho  form  a 
more  perfect  Union,' 

12 


1 


j> 


f-/ ' 


-J> 


But  if  destruction  of  the 
Union  by  one,  or  by  a  part 
only,  of  the  States  be  lawfully 
possible,  the  Union  is  less  per- 
fect than  before  the  Constitu- 
tion, having  lost  the  vital  ele- 
ment of  perpetuity. 

It  follows  from  these  views, 
that  no  State,  upon  its  own 
mere  motion,  can  lawfully  get 
out  of  the  Union ;  that  resolves 
and  ordinances  to  that  effect 
are  legally  void ;  and  that  acts 
of  violence,  within  any  State 
or  States,  against  the  author- 
ity of  the  United  States,  are 
insurrectionary  or  revolution- 
ary, according  to  circum- 
stances. 

I  therefore  consider  that,  in 
view  of  the  Constitution  and 

13 


the  laws,  the  Union  is  unbrok- 
en; and  to  the  extent  of  my 
ability,  I  shall  take  care,  as  the 
Constitution  itself  expressly 
enjoins  upon  me,  that  the  laws 
of  the  Union  be  faithfully  exe- 
cuted in  all  the  States.  Doing 
this  I  deem  to  be  only  a  sim- 
ple duty  on  my  part;  and  I 
shall  perform  it,  so  far  as  prac- 
ticable, unless  my  rightful 
masters,  the  American  people, 
shall  withhold  the  requisite 
means,  or  in  some  authorita- 
tive manner  direct  the  con- 
trary. I  trust  this  will  not  be 
regarded  as  a  menace,  but  only 
as  the  declared  purpose  of  the 
Union  that  it  will  constitution- 
ally defend  and  maintain  it- 
self. 

14 


I 


i 


In  doing  this  there  needs  to 
be  no  bloodshed  or  violence; 
and  there  shall  be  none,  unless 
it  be  forced  upon  the  national 
authority.  The  power  con- 
fided to  me  will  be  used  to 
hold,  occupy,  and  possess  the 
property  and  places  belong- 
ing to  the  Government,  and  to 
collect  the  duties  and  imposts ; 
but  beyond  what  may  be  ne- 
cessary for  these  objects,  there 
will  be  no  invasion,  no  using  of 
force  against  or  among  the 
people  anywhere.  Where  hos- 
tility to  the  United  States,  in 
any  interior  locality,  shall  be 
so  great  and  universal  as  to 
prevent  competent  resident 
citizens  from  holding  the  Fed- 
eral offices,  there  will  be  no 

15 


v>i 


(♦♦ 


♦  ♦♦< 


attempt  to  force  obnoxious 
strangers  among  the  people 
for  that  object.  While  the 
strict  legal  right  may  exist  in 
the  Government  to  enforce  the 
exercise  of  these  offices,  the  at- 
tempt to  do  so  would  be  so  ir- 
ritating, and  so  nearly  imprac- 
ticable withal,  that  I  deem  it 
better  to  forego  for  the  time 
the  uses  of  such  offices. 

The  mails,  unless  repelled, 
will  continue  to  be  furnished 
in  all  parts  of  the  Union.  So 
far  as  possible,  the  people 
everywhere  shall  have  that 
sense  of  perfect  security  which 
is  most  favorable  to  calm 
thought  and  reflection.  The 
course  here  indicated  will  be 
followed  unless  current  events 


I 


16 


vy^ 


and  experience  shall  show  a 
modification  or  change  to  be 
proper,  and  in  every  case  and 
exigency  my  best  discretion 
will  be  exercised  according  to 
circumstances  actually  exist- 
ing,  and  with  a  view  and  a 
hope  of  a  peaceful  solution  of 
the  national  troubles,  and  the 
restoration  of  fraternal  sym- 
pathies and  affections. 

That  there  are  persons  in 
one  section  or  another  who 
seek  to  destroy  the  Union  at 
all  events,  and  are  glad  of  any 
pretext  to  do  it,  I  will  neither 
affirm  nor  deny ;  but  if  there  be 
such,  I  need  address  no  word 
to  them.  To  those,  however, 
who  really  love  the  Union, 
may  I  not  speak? 

17 


1' 


Before  entering  upon  so 
grave  a  matter  as  the  destruc- 
tion of  our  national  fabric, 
with  all  its  benefits,  its  mem- 
ories, and  its  hopes,  would  it 
not  be  wise  to  ascertain  pre- 
cisely why  we  do  it  ?  Will  you 
hazard  so  desperate  a  step 
while  there  is  any  possibility 
that  any  portion  of  the  ills  you 
fly  from  have  no  real  exist- 
ence ?  Will  you,  while  the  cer- 
tain ills  you  fly  to  are  greater 
than  all  the  real  ones  you  fly 
from — will  you  risk  the  com- 
mission of  so  fearful  a  mis- 
take? 

All  profess  to  be  content  in 
the  Union,  if  all  constitutional 
rights  can  be  maintained.  Is 
it  true,  then,  that  any  right, 

18 


M 


plainly  written  in  the  Consti- 
tution, has  been  denied?  I 
think  not.  Happily  the  hu- 
man mind  is  so  constituted 
that  no  party  can  reach  to  the 
audacity  of  doing  this.  Think, 
if  you  can,  of  a  single  instance 
in  which  a  plainly  written  pro- 
vision of  the  Constitution  has 
ever  been  denied.  If,  by  the 
mere  force  of  numbers,  a  ma- 
jority should  deprive  a  minor- 
ity of  any  clearly  written  con- 
stitutional right,  it  might,  in  a 
moral  point  of  view,  justify 
revolution — certainly  would,  if 
such  right  were  a  vital  one. 
But  such  is  not  our  case.  All 
the  vital  rights  of  minorities 
and  of  individuals  are  so  plain- 
ly assured  to  them  by  affirma- 


/j 


19 


m 


tions  and  negations,  guaran- 
tees and  prohibitions,  in  the 
Constitution,  that  controver- 
sies never  arise  concerning 
them.  But  no  organic  law  can 
ever  be  framed  with  a  provi- 
sion specifically  applicable  to 
every  question  which  may  oc- 
cur in  practical  administration. 
No  foresight  can  anticipate, 
nor  any  document  of  reason- 
able length  contain,  express 
provisions  for  all  possible 
questions.  Shall  fugitives  from 
labor  be  surrendered  by  na- 
tional or  by  State  authority? 
The  Constitution  does  not  ex- 
pressly say.  May  Congress 
prohibit  slavery  in  the  Terri- 
tories? The  Constitution  does 
not  expressly  say.    Must  Con- 

20 


gress  protect  slavery  in  the 
Territories  ?  The  Constitution 
does  not  expressly  say. 

From  questions  of  this  class 
spring  all  our  constitutional 
controversies,  and  we  divide 
upon  them  into  majorities  and 
minorities.  If  the  minority 
will  not  acquiesce,  the  major- 
ity must,  or  the  Government 
must  cease.  There  is  no  other 
alternative ;  for  continuing  the 
Government  is  acquiescence  on 
one  side  or  the  other.  If  a 
minority  in  such  case  will 
secede  rather  than  acquiesce, 
they  make  a  precedent  which 
in  turn  will  divide  and  ruin 
them;  for  a  minority  of  their 
own  will  secede  from  them 
whenever  a  majority  refuses  to 

21 


l/L-^ 


d 


be  controlled  by  such  minority. 
For  instance,  why  may  not  any 
portion  of  a  new  confederacy, 
a  year  or  two  hence,  arbitrarily 
secede  again,  precisely  as  por- 
tions of  the  present  Union  now 
claim  to  secede  from  it?  All 
who  cherish  disunion  senti- 
ments  are  now  being  educated  )\/^g 
to  the  exact  temper  of  doing 
this. 

Is  there  such  perfect  identi- 
ty of  interests  among  the 
States  to  compose  a  new 
Union  as  to  j)roduce  harmony 
only,  and  prevent  renewed  se- 
cession? 

Plainly,  the  central  idea  of 
secession  is  the  essence  of  an- 
archy. A  majority  held  in  re- 
straint by  constitutional  checks 

22 


and  limitations,  and  alwaj^s 
changing  easily  with  deliberate 
changes  of  po]3ular  opinions 
and  sentiments,  is  the  only  true 
sovereign  of  a  free  people. 
Whoever  rejects  it  does,  of  ne- 
cessity, fly  to  anarchy  or  to 
despotism.  Unanimity  is  im- 
possible; the  rule  of  a  minor- 
ity, as  a  permanent  arrange- 
ment, is  wholly  inadmissible; 
so  that,  rejecting  the  majority 
principle,  anarchy  or  despot- 
ism in  some  form  is  all  that  is 
left. 

I  do  not  forget  the  position, 
assumed  by  some,  that  consti- 
tutional questions  are  to  be  de- 
cided by  the  Supreme  Court; 
nor  do  I  deny  that  such  de- 
cisions must  be  binding,  in  any 

23 


Mq 


♦  ♦ 


♦  *i 


i! . 


L^< 


case,  upon  the  parties  to  a  suit, 
as  to  the  object  of  that  suit, 
while  they  are  also  entitled  to 
very  high  respect  and  con- 
sideration in  all  parallel  cases 
by  all  other  departments  of  the 
Government.  And  while  it  is 
obviously  possible  that  such 
decision  may  be  erroneous  in 
any  given  case,  still  the  evil 
effect  following  it,  being  limit- 
ed to  that  particular  case,  with 
the  chance  that  it* may  be  over- 
ruled, and  never  become  a  pre- 
cedent for  other  cases,  can  bet- 
ter be  borne  than  could  the 
evils  of  a  different  practice. 
At  the  same  time,  the  candid 
citizen  must  confess  that  if  the 
policy  of  the  Government, 
upon  vital  questions  affecting 

24 


-J 


li 


the  whole  people,  is  to  be  ir- 
revocably fixed  by  decisions  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  the  in- 
stant they  are  made  in  ordi- 
nary litigation  between  parties 
in  personal  actions,  the  people 
will  have  ceased  to  be  their 
own  rulers,  having  to  that  ex- 
tent practically  resigned  their 
government  into  the  hands  of 
that  eminent  tribunal.  Nor  is 
there  in  this  view  any  assault 
upon  the  court  or  the  judges. 
It  is  a  duty  from  which  they 
may  not  shrink  to  decide  cases 
properly  brought  before  them, 
and  it  is  no  fault  of  theirs  if 
others  seek  to  turn  their  de- 
cisions to  political  purposes. 

One  section  of  our  country 
believes  Slavery  is  right,  and 


25 


ought  to  be  extended,  while 
the  other  beheves  it  is  wrong, 
and  ought  not  to  be  extended. 
This  is  the  only  substantial 
dispute.  The  fugitive-slave 
clause  of  the  Constitution,  and 
the  law  for  the  suppression  of 
the  foreign  slave-trade,  are 
each  as  well  enforced,  perhaps, 
as  any  law  can  ever  be  in  a 
community  where  the  moral 
sense  of  the  people  imperfect- 
ly supports  the  law  itself.  The 
great  body  of  the  people  abide 
by  the  dry  legal  obligation  in 
both  cases,  and  a  few  break 
over  in  each.  This,  I  think, 
cannot  be  perfectly  cured ;  and 
it  would  be  worse  in  both  cases 
after  the  separation  of  the  sec- 
tions, than  before.     The  for- 


26 


a 


t 


eign  slave-trade,  now  imper- 
fectly suppressed,  would  be 
ultimately  revived  without  re- 
striction in  one  section;  while 
fugitive  slaves,  now  only  par- 
tially surrendered,  would  not 
be  surrendered  at  all  by  the 
other. 

Physically  speaking,  we  can- 
not separate.  We  cannot  re- 
move our  respective  sections 
from  each  other,  nor  build  an 
impassable  wall  between  them. 
A  husband  and  wife  may  be 
divorced,  and  go  out  of  the 
presence  and  beyond  the  reach 
of  each  other ;  but  the  different 
parts  of  our  country  cannot  do 
this.  They  cannot  but  remain 
face  to  face,  and  intercourse, 
either  amicable  or  hostile,  must 


//"V 


27 


continue  between  them.  Is  it 
possible,  then,  to  make  that  in- 
tercourse more  advantageous 
or  more  satisfactory  after  sep- 
aration than  before?  Can 
aliens  make  treaties  easier  than 
friends  can  make  laws?  Can 
treaties  be  more  faithfully  en- 
forced between  aliens  than 
laws  can  among  friends  ?  Sup- 
pose you  go  to  war,  you  cannot 
fight  always;  and  when,  after 
much  loss  on  both  sides,  and 
no  gain  on  either,  you  cease 
fighting,  the  identical  old 
questions  as  to  terms  of  inter- 
course are  again  upon  you. 

This  country,  with  its  insti- 
tutions, belongs  to  the  people 
who  inhabit  it.  Whenever 
they  shall  grow  weary  of  the 

28 


■Irv. 


:^ 


existing  Government  they  can 
exercise  their  constitutional 
right  of  amending  it,  or  their 
7' evolutionary  right  to  dismem- 
ber or  overthrow  it.  I  cannot 
be  ignorant  of  the  fact  that 
many  worthy  and  patriotic 
citizens  are  desirous  of  having 
the  National  Constitution 
amended.  While  I  make  no 
recommendation  of  amend- 
ments, I  fully  recognize  the 
rightful  authority  of  the  peo- 
ple over  the  whole  subject,  to 
be  exercised  in  either  of  the 
modes  prescribed  in  the  instru- 
ment itself;  and  I  should, 
under  existing  circumstances, 
favor  rather  than  oppose  a  fair 
opportunity  being  afforded  the 
people  to  act  upon  it.     I  will 

29 


I 


venture  to  add,  that  to  nie  the 
convention  mode  seems  prefer- 
able, in  that  it  allows  amend- 
ments to  originate  witl.  the 
people  themselves,  instead  of 
only  permitting  them  to  take 
or  reject  propositions  origi- 
nated by  others,  fiot  especial- 
ly chosen  for  the  purpose,  and 
which  might  not  be  precisely 
such  as  they  would  wish  to 
either  accept  or  refuse.  I  un- 
derstand a  proposed  amend- 
ment to  the  Constitution — 
which  amendment,  however,  I 
have  not  seen — has  passed 
Congress,  to  the  effect  that  the 
Federal  Government  shall 
never  interfere  with  the  do- 
mestic    institutions     of     the 

States,  including  that  of  per- 

so 


j/^i 


m 


M 


sons  held  to  service.  To  avoid 
misconstruction  of  what  I  have 
said,  I  depart  from  my  pur- 
pose, not  to  speak  of  particu- 
lar amendments,  so  far  as  to 
say  that,  holding  such  a  provi- 
sion to  now  be  implied  consti- 
tutional law,  I  have  no  objec- 
tions to  its  being  made  express 
and  irrevocable. 

The  Chief  Magistrate  de- 
rives all  his  authority  from  the 
people,  and  they  have  con- 
ferred none  upon  him  to  fix 
terms  for  the  separation  of  the 
States.  The  people  them- 
selves can  do  this  also  if  they 
choose;  but  the  Executive,  as 
such,  has  nothing  to  do  with 
it.  His  duty  is  to  administer 
the  present  Government,  as  i1 


31 


came  to  his  hands,  and  to 
transmit  it,  miimpaired  by 
him,  to  his  successor. 

Why  should  there  not  be  a 
patient  confidence  in  the  ulti- 
mate justice  of  the  people?  Is 
there  any  better  or  equal  hope 
in  the  world?  In  our  present 
differences  is  either  party 
without  faith  of  being  in  the 
right  ?  If  the  Almighty  Ruler 
of  Nations,  with  his  eternal 
truth  and  justice,  be  on  your 
side  of  the  North,  or  on  yours 
of  the  South,  that  truth  and 
that  justice  will  surely  pre- 
vail by  the  judgment  of  this 
great  tribunal  of  the  Ameri- 
can people. 

By  the  frame  of  the  Govern- 
ment under  which  we  live,  this 


32 


>*  **i 


vy. 


l\ 


same  j^eople  have  wisely  given 
their  pubhc  servants  but  little 
power  for  mischief;  and  have, 
with  equal  wisdom,  provided 
for  the  return  of  that  little  to 
their  own  hands  at  very  short 
intervals.  While  the  people 
retain  their  virtue  and  vigi- 
lance, no  administration,  by 
any  extreme  of  wickedness  or 
folly,  can  very  seriously  injure 
the  Government  in  the  short 
space  of  four  years. 

My  countrymen,  one  and 
all,  think  calmly  and  well  upon 
this  whole  subject.  Nothing 
valuable  can  be  lost  by  taking 
time.  If  there  be  an  object  to 
hurry  any  of  you,  in  hot  haste, 
to  a  step  which  you  would 
never  take  deliberately^  that 

33 


IH.; 


object  will  be  frustrated  by 
taking  time;  but  no  good  ob- 
ject can  be  frustrated  by  it. 
Such  of  you  as  are  now  dissat- 
isfied, still  have  the  old  Consti- 
tution unimpaired,  and,  on  the 
sensitive  point,  the  laws  of 
your  own  framing  under  it; 
while  the  new  Administration 
will  have  no  immediate  power, 
if  it  would,  to  change  either. 
If  it  were  admitted  that  you 
who  are  dissatisfied  hold  the 
right  side  in  the  dispute,  there 
still  is  no  single  good  reason 
for  precipitate  action.  Intelli- 
gence, patriotism,  Christian- 
ity, and  a  firm  reliance  on  Him 
who  has  never  yet  forsaken 
this  favored  land,  are  still 
competent  to  adjust,   in   the 

34 


/^J 


best  way,  all  our  present  dif- 
ficulty. 

In  your  hands,  my  dissatis- 
fied fellow-countrymen,  and 
not  in  mine,  is  the  momentous 
issue  of  civil  war.  The  Gov- 
ernment will  not  assail  you. 
You  can  have  no  conflict,  with- 
out being  yourselves  the  ag- 
gressors. You  have  no  oath 
registered  in  Heaven  to  de- 
stroy the  government,  while  / 
shall  have  the  most  solemn  one 
to  "preserve,  protect,  and  de- 
fend it." 

I  am  loth  to  close.  We  are 
not  enemies,  but  friends.  We 
must  not  be  enemies.  Though 
passion  may  have  strained,  it 
must  not  break  our  bonds  of 
affection.     The  mystic  chords 

35 


'A 


U-^' 


L^^ 


♦  ♦' 


(!' 


of  memory,  stretching  from 
every  battlefield  and  patriot 
grave,  to  every  living  heart 
and  hearth-stone,  all  over  this 
broad  land,  will  yet  swell  the 
chorus  of  the  Union,  when 
again  touched,  as  surely  they 
will  be,  by  the  better  angels  of 
our  nature. 


36 


[♦♦' 


mm" 


vr 


LINCOLN'S 

GETTYSBURG 

OUATION 


AT  THE  DEDICATION  OF  THE 
NATIONAL  CEMETERY,  GET- 
TYSBURG, PA.,  NOV.,  19,  1863 

Fourscore  and  seven  years 
ago,  our  fathers  brought  forth 
on  this  continent  a  new  na- 
tion, conceived  in  hberty,  and 
dedicated  to  the  proposition 
that  all  men  are  created  equal. 
Now  we  are  engaged  in  a 
great  civil  war,  testing  wheth- 
er that  nation,  or  any  nation 
so  conceived  and  so  dedicated, 
can  long  endure.  We  are  met 
on  a  great  battlefield  of  that 
war.    We  have  come  to  dedi- 

37 


§^ 


cate  a  portion  of  that  field  as 
a  final  resting-place  for  those 
who  here  gave  their  lives  that 
that  nation  might  live.  It  is 
altogether  fitting  and  proper 
that  we  should  do  this.  But 
in  a  larger  sense  we  cannot 
dedicate,  we  cannot  consecrate, 
we  cannot  hallow  this  ground. 
The  brave  men,  living  and 
dead,  who  struggled  here,  have 
consecrated  it  far  above  our 
poor  power  to  add  or  detract. 
The  world  will  little  note,  nor 
long  remember,  what  we  say 
here,  but  it  can  never  forget 
what  they  did  here.  It  is  for 
us,  the  living,  rather  to  be 
dedicated  here  to  the  unfin- 
ished work  which  they  who 
fought  here  have  thus  far  so 


nobly  advanced.  It  is  rather 
for  us  to  be  here  dedicated  to 
the  great  task  remaining  be- 
fore us — that  from  these  hon- 
ored dead  we  take  increased 
devotion  to  that  cause  for 
which  they  gave  the  last  full 
measure  of  devotion — that  we 
here  highly  resolve  that  these 
dead  shall  not  have  died  in 
vain — that  this  nation,  under 
God,  shall  have  a  new  birth  of 
freedom — and  that  govern- 
ment of  the  people,  by  the  peo- 
ple, for  the  people,  shall  not 
perish  from  the  earth. 


39 


LINCOLN'S   SECOND 
INAUGURAL  ADDRESS 

delivered  on  the 
4th  of  march,  1865 

Fellow-Countrymen : 

At  this  second  appearing  to 
take  the  oath  of  the  Presiden- 
tial office,  there  is  less  occasion 
for  an  extended  address  than 
there  was  at  the  first.  Then, 
a  statement,  somewhat  in  de- 
tail, of  a  course  to  be  pursued, 
seemed  fitting  and  proper. 
Now,  at  the  expiration  of  four 
years,  during  which  public 
declarations  have  been  con- 
stantly called  forth  on  every 
point  and  phase  of  the  great 
contest  which  still  absorbs  the 

40 


E 


>^' 


^i", 


^"^^ 


♦  ♦' 


ir-A-:) 


i-'^M 


attention  and  engrosses  the 
energies  of  the  nation,  httle 
that  is  new  could  be  presented. 
The  progress  of  our  arms, 
upon  which  all  else  chiefly  de- 
pends, is  as  well  known  to  the 
public  as  to  myself;  and  it  is, 
I  trust,  reasonably  satisfac- 
tory and  encouraging  to  all. 
With  high  hope  for  the  future, 
no  prediction  in  regard  to  it  is 
ventured. 

On  the  occasion  correspond- 
ing to  this  four  years  ago,  all 
thoughts  were  anxiously  di- 
rected to  an  impending  civil 
war.  All  dreaded  it ;  all  sought 
to  avert  it.  While  the  inau- 
gural address  was  being  de- 
livered from  this  place,  devot- 
ed  altogether   to   saving   the 


41 


Union  without  war,  insurgent 
agents  were  in  the  city  seeking 
to  destroy  it  without  war — 
seeking  to  dissolve  the  Union, 
and  divide  effects,  by  negotia- 
tion. Both  parties  deprecated 
war;  but  one  of  them  would 
make  war  rather  than  let  the 
nation  survive;  and  the  other 
w^ould  accept  war  rather  than 
let  it  perish.  And  the  war 
came. 

One-eighth  of  the  whole 
population  were  colored  slaves, 
not  distributed  generally  over 
the  Union,  but  localized  in  the 
southern  part  of  it.  These 
slaves  constituted  a  peculiar 
and  powerful  interest.  All 
knew  that  this  interest  was, 
somehow,  the  cause  of  the  war. 

42 


L^'l 


To  strengthen,  perpetuate, 
and  extend  this  interest  was 
the  object  for  which  the  insur- 
gents would  rend  the  Union, 
even  by  war;  while  the  Gov- 
ernment claimed  no  right  to 
do  more  than  to  restrict  the 
territorial  enlargement  of  it. 
Neither  party  expected  for  the 
war  the  magnitude  or  the 
duration  which  it  has  already 
attained.  Neither  anticipated 
that  the  cause  of  the  conflict 
might  cease  with,  or  even  be- 
fore, the  conflict  itself  should 
cease.  Each  looked  for  an 
easier  triumph,  and  a  result 
less  fundamental  and  astound- 
ing. Both  read  the  same 
Bible,  and  pray  to  the  same 
God;   and   each  invokes   His 

43 


*— A\ 


aid  against  the  other.  It  may 
seem  strange  that  any  men 
should  dare  to  ask  a  just  God's 
assistance  in  wringing  their 
bread  from  the  sweat  of  other 
men's  faces:  but  let  us  judge 
not,  that  we  be  not  judged. 
The  prayers  of  both  could  not 
be  answered;  that  of  neither 
has  been  answered  fully.  The 
Almighty  has  His  own  pur- 
poses. "Woe  unto  the  world 
because  of  offenses !  for  it  must 
needs  be  that  offenses  come; 
but  woe  to  that  man  bv  whom 
the  offense  cometh."  If  we 
shall  suppose  American  Slav- 
ery is  one  of  those  offenses 
which,  in  the  providence  of 
God,  must  needs  come,  but 
which,       having       continued 


44 


pirn  -a, 


:  :m 


through  His  appointed  time, 
He  now  wills  to  remove,  and 
that  He  gives  to  both  North 
and  South  this  terrible  war,  as 
the  woe  due  to  those  by  whom 
the  offense  came,  shall  we  dis- 
cern therein  any  departure 
from  those  divine  attributes 
which  the  believers  in  a  living 
God  always  ascribe  to  Him? 
Fondly  do  we  hope,  fervently 
do  we  pray,  that  this  mighty 
scourage  of  war  may  speedily 
pass  away.  Yet,  if  God  wills 
that  it  continue  until  all  the 
wealth  piled  by  the  bondman's 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years 
of  unrequited  toil  shall  be 
sunk,  and  until  every  drop  of 
blood  drawn  v/ith  the  lash 
shall     be     paid     by     another 


45 


drawn  with  the  sword,  as 
was  said  three  thousand 
years  ago,  so  still  it  must  be 
said,  "The  judgments  of  the 
Lord  are  true  and  righteous 
altogether." 

With  malice  toward  none, 
with  charity  for  all,  with  firm- 
ness in  the  right,  as  God  gives 
us  to  see  the  right,  let  us  strive 
on  to  finish  the  work  we  are  in ; 
to  bind  up  the  nation's 
wounds;  to  care  for  him  who 
shall  have  borne  the  battle,  and 
for  his  widow,  and  his  orphan ; 
to  do  all  which  may  achieve 
and  cherish  a  just  and  a  last- 
ing peace  among  ourselves  and 
with  all  nations. 


46 


